While Freebird was trying out his daycare today, I went over the local library, got myself a library card, and ended up bringing home three books – two to borrow, one to own. Book sale?! WOO HOO! Freebird is also the proud owner of two new books, though I won’t review them here – not sure that the SBTB community is sweating over the relative quality of Let my Babies Go! A Rugrats Passover Story and Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket. There is a joke in there about other meanings of Snuggle Piggy but since I’m talking about children’s books, I’ll leave that one alone.
But me? I got books! I now own a double release of RWA Prez and all around fabulous lady Gayle Wilson’s The Heart’s Desire and Heather Graham’s Lonesome Rider (I wonder if the Lonesome Rider has a Snuggle Piggy? *smacks self – OW*). And I borrowed MaryJanice Davidson’s Derik’s Bane and Jennifer Crusie’s Getting Rid of Bradley, which sounds great but features this cartoon woman on the cover who kinda looks like a man in drag. Big chin, big Adam’s apple, and big nose.
See what I mean?
But then, I arrived home, before I could start any of the three books in the car. And there, on the porch, waiting for me, was a media mail package from Texas. I didn’t think it would arrive that quickly, as media mail usually takes about a year and a half to send from Texas to Jersey, but no, quick as a wink, there it was:
So – which one do I read first? Leave your vote in the comments!
You read GROB and ignore the cover. That’s MIRA release, and Crusie herself has come out as saying she’s not fond of the “skinny women cartoon” covers. SMP does so much better, but this isn’t their book.
Teaser: There’s a moment in GROB where the hero pulls up the floor. I mean, really, how often does that happen in fiction?
I have to admit, the cover gives me a lot of imaginative thoughts: does “Getting Rid of Bradley” refer more to getting rid of the cover cartoon girl’s male identity so s/he can reinvent herself as Bradget? Is s/he name her Snuggle Piggy “Bradley” and is toasting the day before her sex reassignment surgery when s/he indeed “gets rid of” her Bradley?
I might not be able to read the book because I can’t get past pondering the cover art!
You’ve got to read about the baby daddy!! I want all of the delicious group sex details. I’m cracking up here and it’s the school library and the guy over there is staring daggers but I can’t-stop-giggling.
BABY DADDY!!! I hope you review it as well 🙂
LC
The Baby’s Daddy for sure! Think of it as a public service…
Another vote for
Baby Daddy
. Inquiring minds want to know>.
You simply must read the Baby Daddy story and satisfy our collective perverse curiosity. 🙂
I’d start with Bradley, even though nowhere in the book does anyone—of either sex—strangely contort his/her body, don a red dress or drink bubbly. And, if the cover were true to the book, the chick’s hair would be green.
GROB is my favorite Crusie. Read it first! I think the original cover was actually better. I’ve got the original.
I vote Daddy all the way. It’s like a Jerry Springer episode, except in print. And really, who can resist Jerry Springer? I submit to you that no one can resist the horrible lure of Jerry Springer. NO ONE. You’re in the airport minding your own business; an educated, cultured creature, sartorially correct, the latest in cell phones glued to your ear when, on one of the millions of screens in an airport, a woman slaps another woman, takes off her top and insists (despite the fact that she is an admitted transvestite) that the three men on the stage are her baby’s daddy. I DEFY YOU TO NOT BE RIVETTED.
Read Baby Daddy first, save Bradley to cleanse your palate afterwards.
In (somewhat) related news, The Demon’s Daughter arrived in the mail for me today! And I would never have thought of buying it if not for the Smart Bitches’ duelling reviews. Steampunk erotica, you say? Even if it’s bad, I am SO there.
That book is like the running joke on Talk Soup where every week the clip of Whitney Houston yelling “Kiss my Ass!” would pop up somewhere in the middle of the episode—it’s soooo bad, but you can’t turn away!
You’ve got to read the Daddy book if only so the rest of us can find out the answer without actually having to bring said book into our own homes!
Was GROB the one with “dead dog?” ROFL!! I just remember loving that book. Now, I gotta go find it on my shelves.
I’m a fan of most of MJD’s books, but I had a bit of trouble with Derek’s Bane. I look forward to your review to see if you get a similar reaction to a certain aspect.
Who’s Your Daddy or er, Who’s the Daddy is just hmmm… I bet the author really hates that cover. It does look like a group sex book, but since it’s a Harlequin…
Babydaddybabydaddybabydaddy
That’s all there really is to say.
Dude, you had to ask?
BABY DADDY ALLLLLLL THE WAY!
Baby. Daddy.
I’m with Danielle. Baby Daddy first, then GROB to cleanse your palate.
And good for you for getting Freebird into daycare. You need some “me” time.
Well, girls, that cover on Who’s the Daddy was so hot, I’m afraid I was forced to go and … erm .. gratify myself after viewing it.
Those hot guys! That maternity dress! That thoughtful look!
THOSE BABY FEET!
YES! YES! YES!
Whether or not that is an endorsement to read the book, I couldn’t say.
You got it out of the library? So I don’t get any money? Aw, heck, read BabyDaddy, I don’t give a shit. 😉
MaryJanice, would you believe that it was the only of your books in the library in the first place? I was shocked. It looks like a new purchase, too.
So I’ll tell the circulation director to order your other books, too. Ka-ching!
And for the record, those baby feet look HUGE on the cover. I mean, Freebird’s feet are big, but narrow – those are some wiiiide baby feet and they are strange looking.
As for daycare, it’s not so much “me” time as “back to work – FMLA maternity leave it over!” time. *sigh*
Just goes to show, nothing good comes out of Texas…
I gotta go with the masses on this one and say read Baby Daddy. I really want to know if it is worth a read. As far as Bradley goes, IMO it is one of Crusie’s best. There is no way the person responsible for that cover even read a summary of the book. And who is Bradley? Can’t answer that because it is not as simple a question as it seems. It would be a spoiler if I told you, not a major one, but an interesting plot wrinkle. If you are a Crusie fan you won’t be disapointed. It is worth it just for the dogs.
OK, I just did an Amazon search and apparently “Who’s the Daddy?” was not only the title of this 1995 Judy Christenberry book, but its rollicking success inspired a Harlequin American Romance series by the same name (1998-2001), of which a few installments have covers featuring pregnant women in pre-coital situations with Norman Bates. For overall creepiness, our Who’s the Daddy can’t hold a candle to Daddy to be Determined.
To MJD: I always figure that if I check books out of the library, it means the library is more likely to buy other books by the same author—at least, that’s what I tell myself so I don’t feel guilty about screwing her out of royalties.
As for what to read next, read the Crusie. Otherwise you might want to poke your eyes out after reading the babydaddy book and then you’d never get to read about dead dogs and home renovation while laughing your head off.
Sarah, boy do I remember those days. On the one hand, you’re desperate to interact with adults again, and it’s great to talk to someone and not have them barf or piss all over you (as opposed to, say, working retail). On the other, you’re leaving your sweetheart, the family you made, as opposed to the one you got thrust—I mean born—into.
I used to cordially despise most of my SDJs (Stupid Day Jobs) and would often find myself standing in the rain, sleet, or snow, waiting for a bus that would take me away from my kid and bring me to a place I most emphatically did not want to go. It was like a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, except not funny.
Re: the library, I’m sort of infamous for urging readers not to buy my hardcovers but rather wait for the paperback or get the book from the libe (I have liberal guilt over landing a hardcover contract mid-way through a series). I would usually do this at booksignings. Then I’d hear a faint popping sound and realize: my editor’s head blew up, yet again. 🙂
Well, since I had already read the first two in the Undead series several times each, I had no problem buying that hardback. Feel no guilt. You gave us Sink Lair.
I had dinner with Judy Christenberry. Very, very nice lady. She’s made her living from writing Harlequin American Romance for many years. Put her kids through college (she’s a single mom), and supported them and herself with her earnings. I didn’t ask her what she thought of her covers.
But I sure as hell wish I had.
Then again, maybe not. She might have choked to death on her salad and then where would we all be? Without Bigfoot’s Baby.
Sarah, I vote for Baby Before Bradley.
Oh, yes, MJD, the bus, the sleet, the snow, the torment of burning anger while I wait in the cold to go somewhere I’m not sure I want to be – oh, the joy.
The adult interaction will be great, once I get past the stream of coworkers past my desk asking, “Are you sad to be back?”
Why, no! I’m glad! It’s nonstop glee over here! But then, I’m a heartless fool who is ebullient at the very idea of leaving her three month old after spending every moment of the past twelve weeks with him! Thanks for asking!
Sheesh.
I know all you full-time writers must sometimes wish for grown up interaction, but I bet not a one of you misses the vapid small talk of daily office interactions!
I loved both GROB and D’sB, so I say read the Baby Daddy one so you can tell all of us what the HELL that’s about and then you can save the two good ones for “dessert”. 🙂